How to Inspect a Used Car Before Buying

How to Inspect a Used Car Before Buying

When looking for a used car, you have to be careful when doing your research and when buying. When buying a used car you never want to “buy someone else’s problems”. Whether you’re buying from a friend, dealer or a private sale. There are many top quality vehicles on the market out there and like everything else in the world, there can always be a dud. Therefore you want to avoid any of these duds or any vehicles that may cause you more money in the long run! If you want to help yourselves and your bank account try some of our important tips when buying a used car.

Vehicle History Report 

Majority of dealers can request a car proof document. This report tells you any information you need to know about the vehicle that you are looking at, it can tell you:

• When it was purchased and where
• When it was inspected and registered
• How many previous owners
• Any extra work done on the vehicle
• Any tire work
• If it was stolen
• If it was operated outside Canada.

With this report you can see what issues there might be with a vehicle or lack of issues, this will give you a better idea of what the vehicle has been through and if its worth what the asking price is etc.

Analyzing Used Car Prices 

One BIG mistake when buying a used car is over paying for a vehicle. An important thing to do is compare prices through different sites, dealerships and places like Kijiji! When searching for prices set a radius for around 50 miles and the car you are looking at and sometimes adding details such as trim level, year, colour etc. will help narrow it down. When you have a defined search you can see what the different prices are in your area and therefore see if the price of the original car you were looking at was price way too high or the perfect price.

Conducting a walk-around inspection 

It seems like common sense to do a walk around of the vehicle but so many people don’t and they regret it later when they find a small issue that could have been seen and fixed before hand. Dealerships should be encouraging it but might not, therefore you have to. Get down to the ground, look at the tires, look under the hood and if you see anything suspicious that was not declared to you, say something and speak up now so you don’t regret it. Always look for obvious places where body work could have been done and where parts could have rusted.